Emerald Joker
by Raiokun
Summary: What had started as a normal day for the undercover shopkeeper, Rabac, ended up being a lot more.


It was another one of those 'Not really anything to do' days inside of the bookshop. Rabac did had been doing his job perfectly. Normally the Jade Dragon wasn't only a way for him to make easy coin, but a safe haven for the spies that had been chased down by the corruption that spread around the nation like a plague. Simply by watching this place, Rabac was risking his neck for the gallows. But keeping this cover wasn't anything difficult or new for the shopkeeper. He could put a professional actor to shame with his unparalleled acting. The shop was sucessful enough to be it's own small library. Two large rows of bookshelf were lined far enough that they reached the very end of the shop. Each row had been crammed with every kind of book that Rabac could find. The treasonable ones were hidden n the back, and the ones that required someone to show him that they were with the Rebels were inside of the hidden room. He had taken great pains to make sure that the guards never found out about this place. Being a lazy little genius, he wanted it to get to the point where he could put up a sign that said '_Night Raid's hideout is this place here!_' And still not be endangered of hanging. It wasn't too hard to reach such a point, when the guardsmen were so easily brided. All he had to do was toss on a cloak, add some fine features on the hood so the guards didn't see his face, and give out a few coins to the southern squadron, so that they would lessen their guards around the dockside of town. The Jade Dragon was on the side very edge of the entire safeguard area. Being in the middle of safety only made you more in danger. Of course, there was always problems with bridely, which is why Rabac didn't want to give away his cover. The guards would change on him like a coin. Whoever had the most of it had the guards. The capital was corrupted. No, it was beyond corrupted. It was simply another hell, and this darkness was to strong for any ray of light to shine away. The rebels were fighting a losing war if they truly had made the Jade Dragon into some sort of rebel sleepeasy. But it never stopped the greenette, love made people do some crazy things, and this was one of them.

The light green haired shopkeeper always made sure that he finishes his 'job' so that he could go back to lazying around the shop. His stylish reddish headband was nicely placed behind his head, while his green jacket laid peacefully behind him. Strapped inside were several different daggers and throwing knifes, and finally; Cross Tails, the Teigu that he tried his best not to use whenever he didn't have too. He wouldn't have to worry about that though. Today wasn't one of the working days, and even better, he didn't have any Nightly missions to go on! Thank god, killing another cute, but corrupted girl was not in his best interest!, besides, it was way to cold to be- "Wait, cold?" Rabac huffed out a deep breath. The small heate cloud of air was easy to see! There was no doubt about it, the temperature had just dropped by an easy 40 or 60 degrees. The clear windows started to cloud up and crack slightly from the sudden extreme drop, and Rabac found himself reaching backwards to grab his jacket, not wasting to time with throwing on the fluffy hood of it. He knew this before, this certain chill of death. There was no mistaking what it was, but the more important question was, why was it happening now? It wasn't intently directed at this place, but there was no doubt that who ever it was aimed at, would be in for hell, and Rabac was about to do something really really stupid.

"This seems really **dangerous**. I need to check it out."

This would normally be the part where walked in and ordered him to stay. But the fun part about being incognito was that there was no one he would have to worry about or listen to other than himself and his partner. And thank god, she wasn't nearby today. Rabac chewed on the idea of going with the brown hood, or not. It would be best to go green, if he was spotted like he was spotted with the robe, he would be noted down or spotted for being so suspicious. It would be easier to hide in plain sight and act the role of the fool. Taking his lucky headband, and Cross Tails, he headed out of the door, being sure to lock and close the door to the Jade Dragon as he left. That wasn't the only security he had in place, a few simple traps were spread near the hidden door, in case someone had found the secret entrance. An assassin never leaves a safe-house unsafe. That lesson was for the most part branded into his head. learned the easiest way to teach Rabac to use his talent and not simply waste it, was to take away the three things he cared about, Manga, sleeping, and her! After that went down, he learned very fast just how much was expected of him, and he always did his best to do as little as he could! Unless it meant life or death, like this aura he was feeling, that was when he had to take things serious,

"And here I thought I was gonna be alone..."

A small white cat with a ruby red bow tied to its back meowed behind Rabac. The store clerk didn't even bother with looking back at it. Instead, he broke off in a small chuckle as he walked down the freezing cobblestone street-ways. No horses or carts came by, only a few other scared citizens, all of them running away from the danger, while Rabac nimbly made it past the herd of sheep with ease. The kitten danced under the stumping feet and at times, grabbed onto Rabac's jean cuffs. Taking the free ride whenever it seemed convenient for her. The closer he got to the chilling epicenter of this cold front, the less people stay around, and the more signs of a deep freeze were appearing. The kitten began to hiss, as a warning and that's when Rabac made a quick dash into a darkened alleyway, tossing the cat in with a feint of a trip with him.

"YYAAAAOOOWWWLLLLLHH!"

It screamed out in pain while flying towards a wall. She was just being a drama queen now. Rabac put on the fake mask of trickery, and made a smirk at her as she laid flat against the wall. The kitten had slowy regained its composure and stood on all fours, stretching out her hind legs while pushing forward to lean backwards. Obviously she was trying for the prepare herself for the upcoming event, but Rabac wasn't having it. This wasn't some sort of assassination mission, nor was it any kind of mission, this was his free time, no need to drag his partner inside of personal affairs.

"You might as well change back. You aren't going on a mission."

The cat wordlessly walked up to him and started to rub up against his legs. Having her fur rub the cuffs of his jeans, and the spots that small claw marks dug into the cloth for a clean threshold. The price of having a partner always resulted in Rabac having to get new pants, she must enjoy this a lot. It won't matter, Rabac was in his somewhat serious mood, so payback wasn't one of his current goals. Reaching into his pocket , he pulled out a lollipop and tossed it behind him, blindly. Not even waiting to see what had happened, Rabac turned away to begin his walk towards the edge of the alley's corner. A troupe of guardsmen were coming straight down, lead by none other than Gregory himself. The damn old man was known for two things, his 'lost' at the victory of Helmens keep, and his hatred for Rabac directly. Him being here was almost worst a sign than the cold front. From behind him, he heard the sound of plastic being ripped open! "It's not that I- WHOA!" With insanely fast lightning reflexes Rabac, ducked into a pile of garage, with an arm wrapped around the troublesome shapeshifter. They both landed on their sides, Rabac had to pull her close to him so that he could get the cloak over both of their bodies. A solider came up to the alley to inspect the sudden noise along with his own duo partner. It was Gregorys own incompetence that saved them.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

One of the spearmen set the spearhead passed Rabac's arm, he bit down the side of his hand to hold in his screams of pain. The damn thing had glazed his arm, to the point were blood flowing freely, like a small crimson riven of wine. He covered it up and applied pressure to be sure that it didn't leak too much.

"Sir, we heard something moving over here and-"

"And what!? And you **abandon** your post and your country!?"

"No, sir! It's just that-"

The mans words were quickly cut short, and replaced by the sound of a knife being sheathed into his throat. The scene was slightly blurry, as wool and dense garbage wasn't known for their transparency. Gregory easily executed the other man, allowing him to rejoin his friend in death. Classic Gregory, always looking for an excuse to simply shed blood, never once asking if it is friend or foe.

"Anyone who leaves their post, disobeys an order, or fails to carry out an order will be charged with treason, and punished on sight! Remember that! Now go on the move! We're searching for the Ice queen! I SAID MOVE!"

The fear-inspired soldiers took to the streets in double time! What luck, the thing that made Gregory such a fearsome general was one of the same things that made him lose all of his chances. During the small death intermission, Rabac felt a shivering next to him. He forgot about the mischievous next to him, or he did his best to at least. In a hushed voice, he told her to quiet down for a little while longer until the danger passed. They could probably assassinate the General of Bloodshed right here and now, but it wouldn't have been a clean kill.

The sound of men marching started to die down, but the duo assassins didn't move yet, they waited for another ten minutes until slowly coming out of their positions. The empire didn't see Night Raid or the Imperial Army as big dangers enough that they were cracking down on them completely. But spies were having their positions compromised and informants were hanging from the gallows. Rabac was the first one to get out of their hiding spot. This was a chance that he /really/ couldn't give up now. The Ice Queen was involved in this, but so was the Blood Hungry Wolves that Gregory brought around him. A frontal assault was suicide, and an assassination would end up being a duel, that would sound the alarm and put him in the spot light. This was getting bad, judging by the way that the Empire was taking this...

**"RABAC!"**

"Huh?"

He turned his head to see the red-haired vixen adjusting his headset with one hand, while the other had been spinning a needle around in her hand absently. Her face was twisted into a 'Did you hear what I said' kind of expression, while his was a more of a 'Did I miss something' type. No doubt this, scene had played out thousands of times.

"Do you know who that was?"

"Probably." A half-assed answer, he obviously wasn't taking this as serious as she was. Her face changed to one of those 'Tell me or I'll kill you looks' and Rabac shrugged his arms, to that of a guilty partner. "Fine, I did know him." He waved around his hand while speaking out loud to her. "He's one of the general's of high command. For the most part, he watches over the southern trades." Chelsea flicked a large strange of hair out of her eyes, as she stuck a lollipop treat into her mouth. Chewing over the treat while she thought up the idea. Forming a small smirk, she nodded to herself and walked behind him. "Alright, lets kill him." "No need, you're going to report back at base." Rabac took a step forward and groaned as his arm made a quick sting of pain, though the wound. He had completely forgotten about it! The faintest of smiles, appeared on the mischievous teen. A soft hand reached out to grab him by his shoulder and pull him back, purposely putting pressure on the deep cut to inflict pain on him.

"The best way to make sure that these things don't get infected is to add pressure~." Despite Chelsea's _innocent_ look, she was anything but it. Never resting to miss a chance to inflict pain or make Rabac's job more difficult, when it showed itself. " asked for your assistance with something. Saying something about the fifth-tenth division or something?" Rabac ignored the pain bluntly and put up a mask with a nonchalant-smile. ". . . Ugh, that's today. Fine." He pulled back his arm from her, as roughly as he could to break her death grip. Chelsea simply smiled and clasp her hands together while calmly sucking on he treat. "I guess, we'll just have to save that bastards death for latter." Rabac nodded, while rubbing the back of his head, doing his best to hold back a sigh of disappointment. Killing Gregory right now would be easy, but an escape plan was impossible, plus the cold front that they had? Talk about the x-factor, of it all. "Damn, I guess so." Rabac took two steps towards the street before being painfully stopped by Chelsea again. "Wait," She pulled a ruby red bandage-rope from her pocket and started to wrap up Rabac's upper arm to cover the wound fully. "It's not that I haven't already dug your grave or anything, but you're kinda too heavy for me to toss inside of it." He made a small smirk, but she turned her head before he could even confirm it. Chelsea had a weird way of showing her comrades that she carded, always too scared that she won't even see them for anymore longer than a month. "It wasn't needed, but thanks~. You should had used your bra strap." He chuckled to himself before pulling down his hoodie, and making his way back to Night Raid's headquarters. This aura of death only meant one thing, and that thing could easily wait. Rabac couldn't resist an order from , she normally never called for him like this, especially using the fifth-teen division as an excuse,


End file.
